


To Be Factionless

by StoryLover23



Category: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Canon Pairing, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-13
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-07 10:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3170789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryLover23/pseuds/StoryLover23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hopefully we won't have to worry about faction distinctions anymore by the time this is over. It'll be nice, I think." Tobias, Insurgent</p><p>What made Tobias say this? A girl he met in the factionless compound.</p><p>Mostly AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Factionless

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Anything you recognize does not belong to to me.

I sit up from the sleeping pallet and stretch. It must be early; not many are awake and the fire is just starting to dim. I glance at Tris and see her back is to me, and she is curled into herself. I kiss her forehead and then stand.

I carefully pick my way through the maze of sleeping forms and head to a hallway. I don't know what I want, but I just walk.

I stop at the mouth of the hall when I see a form leaning against the wall. I creep forward and can finally make out details.

It is a girl, maybe seventeen. She is attractive, with long, glossy black hair that falls in loose curls around her and a petite form. She has a pretty face, with a small nose, small but full lips, nicely arched eyebrows, and long dark eyelashes that brush her cheeks. She opens her eyes, and I meet the most unusual eyes: caramel, or toffee colored, and they look calculating and intelligent, like a cat's. I stare at her for a moment before she speaks.

"You're Dauntless, right? Four?" I nod. "Nice to meet you. I'm Bethany. Care to join me?" I answer by walking closer to her and slide down the wall next to her.

"Who are you?" I ask, then blush when I realize how ridiculous my question is. she laughs. "I mean," I quickly start, "what faction did you come from?"

She cocks her head and purses her lips, studying me.

"I'm sorry," I say. "That's probably a sensitive topic..." I trail off, feeling foolish.

Bethany pauses. "It's not a matter of sensitivity...It's more a matter of perspective. But I was born here."

"Here?" I ask, stunned.

"Well, not  _here_ ," Bethany corrects. "But I wasn't born into a faction. Both of my parents grew up that way, in fact."

"Really?" I ask. I stare forward and think about it; I had always been taught that to be factionless was worse off than to be dead. But Bethany obviously loved growing up here, and that attitude would not have come about if her parents had hated living here as well.

"From what I understand, I have at least one faction in my blood. An ancestor of my mother's came from Erudite; she was a transfer from Abnegation. And my father's great-grandfather was Amity who transferred to Candor, and my father's great-grandmother was Dauntless who transferred to Candor.

"But yeah...I like to think that I would be Divergent if I had taken the test."

I gape at her; she just threw the word "Divergent" around like it was an everyday word, used in everyday conversation.

Bethany notices my expression and gives a small laugh. "That word isn't nearly as dangerous here as it is up there."

I pause. "But you don't mind being...you know. Factionless?"

She purses her lips again and says slowly, "I wouldn't call it 'factionless.' I like to think that we  _are_ a faction, in a way. A faction of faction-rejects. We were created accidentally."

"So, what faction would you want to join?" I ask.

"Honestly," she says, "I wouldn't want to be in a faction."

"Why?" I ask her.

"Because the whole faction thing, doing the same thing every day, living the same way as everyone else, thinking the same way, acting the same way, treating others the same way...it doesn't appeal to me. Besides, the way I see it, yes, these factions were created to tackle what the founders thought were the downfall of human kind. But we can't live without conflict. I mean, look where we are now. These factions were created to keep this exact thing from happening. But here we are, in the middle of conflict."

She takes a deep breath. "We're humans. We can't help but fight."

I lean back and think about what she just said. All of it was true. Our society was supposed to prevent violence from breaking out. But yes, here we were; sitting in the lap of conflict.

"Being without a faction," Bethany starts again, "is being without conformation, without rules, without expectations." She pauses. "Now knowing all of that," she says, "which faction do  _you_ want to be a part of?"

She gets up and walks down the hall, toward the main part of the complex. I sit still, thinking about her questions.

Because everything Bethany said is true. And now, being factionless wasn't a bad turn of fortune. To be factionless was to be a part of a faction. It was free, it was loose, it was...amazing.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hope you enjoyed :)
> 
> Until next time,
> 
> ~Bryn


End file.
